ISSN: 0022-1198
CODEN: JFSCA
Page Count: 10

Fluorescent Metal-Ruhemann's Purple Coordination Compounds: Applications to Latent Fingerprint Detection
Menzel, ER
Director, Center for Forensic Studies, and professor, Physics Department, Texas Tech University, TX

Hallman, JL
Professor and graduate student, Texas Tech University, TX

Bartsch, RA
Professor and graduate student, Texas Tech University, TX

(Received 19 November 1988; accepted 3 February 1989)

Abstract

Ruhemann's Purple (RP), the reaction product of ninhydrin with amino acids, forms coordination compounds with many metals. However, only a few of them fluoresce. A model for the structural and photophysical features that underlie the formation of fluorescent metal-RP compounds has been developed to establish guidelines for the design of optimized ninhydrin analogs and metal-RP complexes. The application of such complexes to the detection of latent fingerprints, a special surface analytical chemistry problem, is discussed.

Keywords:
criminalistics, fingerprints, ninhydrin, 5-methoxyninhydrin, Ruhemann's Purple, zinc chloride, twisted intramolecular charge transfer (TICT) compounds, fluorescence, lasers

Paper ID: JFS12798J
DOI: 10.1520/JFS12798J
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